Chris asks in comments to this post if the building visible in the third picture is the same as the school A.K. and the other Stevens children attended near Fremont, Michigan and which Chris and I, with Mom and Mary, visited in 1996. Below is a picture of the school around 1913 with various Stevens children in the assembly. This photo is also in One of Ten (p. 40). In addition, the Newaygo County Historical Society has a collection of Roottown School pictures which can be found here (enter search word 'roottown'). By the way, in case you don't keep your copy of One of Ten with you at all times as I do, the Newaygo folks have scanned a few of its chapters, including the one describing the school building, for your online reading pleasure. (And did you know you can even buy an extra copy from Amazon!) I do wish the NCHA had given better attribution to the document.
Click to enlarge. The key below will help you find the Stevens children.
Here is a slideshow of our field trip to the Stevens farm. Photos of the school appear near the end.
This somewhat surreal sequence of photos (numbers on the back) made spooky by a camera with a light leak, appear to be from our first Halloween in River Falls in 1965 when the neighborhood was alfalfa fields and constructions sites. They star Bridget who was still really a pup at that time. Perhaps they were taken by Chris?
(Trying to date this photo... looking at the shiny doorknob, I'm thinking this was taken just as the department moved into the Fine Arts Building - 1972-3 - to 'celebrate' the move, but before Dad rated a window office?)
I know you've all been waiting for a ginkgo tree update (you can see last year's pictures here). I've been waiting for this moment when I could record our little tree in its autumn golden glory.
I haven't experienced a midwestern fall in many years, so I am impressed at how many humble little trees are just sorta there 360-odd days of the year and then for about 48 hours they decide to be stars. Of course our little ginkgo is kinda sparkly all the time but in the picture below you can really see it holding its own amongst all the sugar maples. Those of you who were around for email exchanges about ginkgo lore may recall that the tree is rumored to drop all its leaves at once. So what we need now is a gingko-cam...
This is a little collection of portraits from a brat fry (though no brats are actually featured-- but really, what else would we have been eating?) in Sheboygan summer of 1979. Jim and Jayne appear to be newly engaged? married? Everyone is looking quite jolly.
You can click on the symbol with four arrows to make the slideshow fill the screen or you can browse the set by clicking here or view the slideshow on flickr here
This photo is from "Aunt Tena's collection" and the note on the back suggests that these might have been her students. In the photo below, Mom thinks the woman in the back on the right smiling proudly may be Tena [Stevens]. The other ragamuffin photos provide no clues to their origin, but perhaps they belonged to the same collection? Additional insights appreciated! (Remember to click to enlarge!)
Here's a snap I took of a distressed taxpayer in front of the Lincoln Savings and Loan in my Alhambra neighborhood shortly after the 1990 bailout. (Looking through all the photos of Pete's LA visit, he sure was one for the goofy poses.)
A heron stalks its supper on the Kinnickinnnic. This solitary figure in the wilderness is a little deceptive. We are in "downtown" River Falls and traffic is heavy: to the right of the picture there were a few hundred very noisy geese.
The day after I captured our glorious golden ginkgo at its peak
Charlie Brown tree!
I know you've all been waiting for a ginkgo tree update (you can see last year's pictures here). I've been waiting for this moment when I could record our little tree in its autumn golden glory.
I haven't experienced a midwestern fall in many years, so I am impressed at how many humble little trees are just sorta there 360-odd days of the year and then for about 48 hours they decide to be stars. Of course our little ginkgo is kinda sparkly all the time but in the picture below you can really see it holding its own amongst all the sugar maples. Those of you who were around for email exchanges about ginkgo lore may recall that the tree is rumored to drop all its leaves at once. So what we need now is a gingko-cam...
Perhaps David knows?
